trig42: IMO, Noels did not intend to sell it for that price, they were just caught out with their Queen's Birthday promotion as it had not excluded the phone.

Good on them for carrying through.

NL told me that they had not intended the SGS3 to be included in the sale. The promotion was planned before they knew the launch date of the phone and because they hadn't specifically excluded SGS3's they had to offer the discount to anyone who asked for it. However, apparently the stores were not supposed to offer rain checks or pre-orders at the discounted price. The sale terms were only for stock that they held. According to them, some store offered rain checks which then caused other stores to match them when people asked for it. It all happened so fast and word spread so quickly that head office didn't get a chance to stop the rain checks/pre-orders.

Those talking about cost, don't forget the store's cost is made up of unit price + warehousing/distribution + store handling and overheads. Pre-orders add to the sales processing costs. One store told me that the promotion-matching price gave them less than 5% on the base unit cost, which isn't enough to cover their overheads. Unless someone knows what NL internal costs and overheads are then I don't think we can know if they sold below cost or not.

trig42: IMO, Noels did not intend to sell it for that price, they were just caught out with their Queen's Birthday promotion as it had not excluded the phone.

Good on them for carrying through.

NL told me that they had not intended the SGS3 to be included in the sale. The promotion was planned before they knew the launch date of the phone and because they hadn't specifically excluded SGS3's they had to offer the discount to anyone who asked for it. However, apparently the stores were not supposed to offer rain checks or pre-orders at the discounted price. The sale terms were only for stock that they held. According to them, some store offered rain checks which then caused other stores to match them when people asked for it. It all happened so fast and word spread so quickly that head office didn't get a chance to stop the rain checks/pre-orders.

Those talking about cost, don't forget the store's cost is made up of unit price + warehousing/distribution + store handling and overheads. Pre-orders add to the sales processing costs. One store told me that the promotion-matching price gave them less than 5% on the base unit cost, which isn't enough to cover their overheads. Unless someone knows what NL internal costs and overheads are then I don't think we can know if they sold below cost or not.

I also was told by NL that the 20% off all samsung products was negotiated before they knew the release date, also when they run a sale like this one samsung takes the hit if they end up selling below cost (whatever way they come up with actual cost), it could be samsung that has lost in the goings on over the weekend, a nasty complication of a flagship release if it is the case.

Glengus: Telecom salesman confirmed at lunchtime that they have been told blue release is still scheduled for friday 8th.

so, does that mean that the likes of NL will get their XT models in as well on the day? i want my white 16GB damnit lol

I can only guess, but perhaps it means there is another batch coming in this week. I am still expecting to have to wait longer though, there are starting to be sightings appear on overseas websites however so it could be true.

I pre-ordered a 32gb Blue model from NL, I cant imagine they'd sell a non existent phone. I'm in no rush so I can wait a bit without getting all grabby and throwing my toys around.

I've been watching a few droptests, must say, compared to the S2, the S3's is pretty fragile, iphone4s fared better really, I'll have to take solace in the fact that I've managed to not drop my S2 so far :-)

Apparently the construction of the screen makes it expensive to replace.

+1 for NL, honouring the 20% off the SGS3 for me Ordered blue XT version, which is scheduled for the end of the month (Vodafone's batch is coming in sooner apparently?) Didn't want to risk it, so decided the extra 2 week wait was worth it (still paid the same $839 so the pressure was off in that regard)

klyster: I've been watching a few droptests, must say, compared to the S2, the S3's is pretty fragile, iphone4s fared better really, I'll have to take solace in the fact that I've managed to not drop my S2 so far :-)

Apparently the construction of the screen makes it expensive to replace.

Downside of a larger screen, they are easier to break! the tests are all very unscientific and onto very hard surfaces. I've only ever managed to damage a phone by throwing it against a brick wall (you wouldn't like me when I'm angry). Carpet is your friend!

klyster: I've been watching a few droptests, must say, compared to the S2, the S3's is pretty fragile, iphone4s fared better really, I'll have to take solace in the fact that I've managed to not drop my S2 so far :-)

Apparently the construction of the screen makes it expensive to replace.

Downside of a larger screen, they are easier to break! the tests are all very unscientific and onto very hard surfaces. I've only ever managed to damage a phone by throwing it against a brick wall (you wouldn't like me when I'm angry). Carpet is your friend!

+1 to this. Bigger screen is always more fragile than smaller screen and that including the more spacing available when applying to bigger device. If you have bigger piece of glass even stronger build material but there is a breaking point. It may be harder than Gorilla 1 but harder doesn't meant it is prone to crack better. Point of breaking is like a ceramic. Ceramic harder to break when you standing on it and when you applying weight on it than steel because the joined between molecules of composition is much stronger to steel but yet very fragile against drop and instant force applying to it. Because ceramic does not stretch and so it breaks :)

This is also true with Gorilla 2 glass. It has a higher resistant to scratches and harder to break when the force is applying slowly. But when it comes to instant force applying to it then it is fragile just like any other glass type and being thinner would shatter faster when drop in the right position to where the glass molecules connected. If it is not a bullet proof glass then it will break easier. :)

This what I thought that is all. I could be wrong. S2 has the bezel outward designed to protect the screen about 0.1mm and it is covering the screen from all sides and angles as well. As for S3 when you dropped it onto the ground the edge will hit the ground first and it will shattered the screen because there is nothing to help reduce the force like it was on the S2. But if you drop flat then both screen will break depending on chance and factors (surface type).

By comparison the S2 has a raised edge that would act as a bumper before the screen impacted whereas the screen on the S3 protrudes further than the body so obviously the glass is going to take any impact first